Businessman/Retired Teacher say Rauner is Wrong to Balance Budget on Backs of Poor

By Chinta Strausberg

Saying Gov. Bruce Rauner should not balance his budget on the backs of the poor; a South Side businessman and a retired teacher unveiled a list of alternative cuts to close the state’s $1.6 billion budget deficit

Herbert Hedgeman and Pat Brooks, a retired Chicago public school teacher who taught for 33-years, want the governor to impose more taxes on corporations including a transaction tax and other taxes like on marriage licenses, filing for divorce. They say these taxes would be financially less onerous for poor people.

Brooks wants Rauner to “roll back the salaries of all state employees at least temporarily until the deficit has been eliminated and the state becomes financially solvent.

Brooks, like so many, is very upset with Rauner’s for suspending $26 million in social services and public health grants that included funds to pay for funerals and burials for those on public assistance, programs for immigrants, autism and HIV/AIDS awareness programs. “I think this is horrible…terrible, absolutely ridiculous. It’s reprehensible,” she said.

“Rather than targeting his cuts on the poor, Gov. Rauner should begin to cut the real waste in the budget. Children and people suffering from HIV/AIDS and autism are not waste. He must cut the pork projects including eliminating state cars, stop automatic pay increases.”

Both Hedgeman and Brooks believe there should be a state income tax based on a sliding scale and feel the rich should pay more.

Hedgeman wants the state to start charging churches for water—a fight black ministers recently won in Chicago after numerous meetings led by Elder Kevin A. Ford.

Hedgeman also wants the state to take over liquor stores and Brooks wants the governor to eliminate all miscellaneous items in the budget. Both believe the governor should impose a special tax on businesses like Pay Day Loan stores.

Mr. Hedgeman wants employees who do not live in Chicago but work here to be taxed for using city services. “The governor cannot keep trying to balance his budget on the backs of the poor,” said Hedgeman who called on Rauner to create a citizen task force that would give suggestions on where and who to cut from the budget.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.